Vandran Oglestone
Early Years Growing up in Aerie Peak, Vandran had served with the Wildhammer forces during the Second and Third wars. Although he had longed for battle, he had worked as a miner and laborer in the Grand Alliance army. He had so badly wanted to join his clan soaring above or fighting on the fields of battle, but was relegated to the supply units which moved with the bulk of the Dwarven armies from the out of the Hinterlands. Growing up had been a confusing time for Vandran. His mother, always adventurous even for Wildhammer standards, had fallen for a charming Bronzebeard smith working out of Dun Modr. The town near the border to the Arathi Highlands was quaint, and the change of pace from the wilderness around Aerie Peak was welcomed for a time. The two remained in Dun Modr until she fell pregnant, at which point, she convinced the smith to tame up work for her clan in the Hinterlands. The Wildhammer were less than pleased with a Bronzebeard wedding one of their own, but even less pleased with the notion that he and his half-clan son were moving into their lands. The Wildhammer may have even chased the two out, if it were not for his father’s exceptional steel. As a child, Vandran felt he never belonged with the Wildhammer. He desperately wanted to be seen as a part of the clan, but as he grew, he never developed the taller, leaner, frame of his Wildhammer peers. Instead, he remained more stout and stocky. A curse, as he saw it, from his father’s Bronzebeard blood. His parents assured him that he was just as much a Wildhammer as anyone, but Vandran could see he was different. While his friends underwent training as warriors and Griffon Riders, Vandran was cast aside - forced to work with his father scraping ore from the mountains around Aerie Peak and learning the basics of the forge. The Second War When the Second War broke out, Vandran served at his father’s side, mining ore and helping his father forge weapons and armor for the clan. His mother, an accomplished Griffon Rider in her own right, was the first of his parents to fall in Doomhammer’s invasion of Aerie Peak. Crushed, both Vandran and his father worked to outfit the Wildhammer with the finest weapons and armor that they could create. As the pair moved with the Wildhammer forces, Vandran learned what he could from his father. His lessons would soon be cut short, however. When the Orcs brought down the fire of their Red Dragon Riders, Vandran had been collecting ore from the hills around the Hinterlands. A small skirmish between some of the remaining Dragon Riders near Grim Batol, and the riders of the Wildhammer, his father fell in a targeted strike against the Dwarves' forges and supply lines. Vandran had continued to serve with the Grand Alliance in the Second War. His clan had not abandoned him as he had expected after the death of his parents. Rather, it had been Vandran who walked away from Aerie Peak. Not feeling as though he belonged, Vandran enlisted in the armies of the Grand Alliance. Without his father’s pedigree, however, he was forced to serve as a miner and a laborer. The Third War Vandran continued his service in the Third War, hoping to finally be given a chance at combat. He eventually was granted his request when an officer announced a grim opportunity. Volunteers were needed to reinforce the Silver Hand in their attempt to retake Lordaeron in the wake of Prince Arthas’ actions. Seeing no other option, Vandran received meager martial training and was dispatched to Southshore to begin his service. Vandran’s taste of military service was soured greatly by the leadership of Garithos. Add to that the way he treated the Dwarves and other non-human races that served under him, and Vandran all but lost respect for the leadership. He may have even considered walking away from his service had it not been for the charismatic young officer directly above him. A young man from a minor house named Arinrad - driven to action and willing to treat those under him with respect. Vandren survived his time with the forces stationed near Hillsbrad. War Takes Its Toll With his time served, Vandran left the Alliance forces with the faces of those who died, rose as the dead, and attacked their friends and brothers etched in his mind. The grim reality of the situation had pushed Vandren to the bottle - running from the reality of the situation. The Third War concluded, the Dwarf found himself with no tie to either the fanaticism of the Scarlet Crusade, nor the piousness of the Argent Dawn. His only fighting experience being with the now scattered forces once led by Garithos, the aging Dwarf was forced to fall upon his skills from his previous life. He departed Southshore with nothing to his name- no family, no work, and more importantly, no money. After a year of drifting between the pubs and taverns of various cities and towns, he eventually took work with the mining companies of Stormwind. For the last four years, he made his coin mining at Fargodeep and Jasperlode mines until the Kobold moved in. The Kobold incursion has forced the companies of Stormwind to abandon their endeavors for now. With an ever lightening coin purse, Vandran has little to his name - including few options for his future.